LOCAL JOBLESS RATE AT 8.4%

7,500 county workers dropped out of labor force in September

San Diego County’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent in September, the lowest it’s been since January 2009, when it was also 8.4 percent.

But the six-point drop from 9 percent in August doesn’t necessarily mean the job market is speeding to recovery.

The region’s unemployment rate went down largely because the people who dropped out of the labor force by either giving up their job searches or going back to school was greater than those who found jobs. In September, 7,500 San Diegans stopped looking for work, while 2,100 reported that they found jobs. People who don’t look for work aren’t counted as unemployed.

The state Employment Development Department does not adjust the county rate for seasonal factors, so teachers and school auxiliary staff being rehired in September may increase the drop in the unemployment rate. The county’s jobless rate has only fallen by 0.6 or greater in a month seven times since 1990. The last time was in April, when it fell from 9.6 percent to 8.8 percent.

“The seasonal adjustment is a calculation of what normally happens,” said Kelly Cunningham, economist at the National University System Institute for Policy Research. “If it’s above or below that adjustment, then we call it a real change or a seasonally adjusted change, and that shows us how much real job growth has occurred or been lost.”

Adjusted for seasonality, the county’s unemployment rate doesn’t show as steep of a decline. Its seasonally adjusted rate fell from 8.8 percent to 8.5 percent, said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University.

The nation’s unemployment rate — at an adjusted 7.8 percent in September — is also at its lowest point since January 2009.

In terms of payrolls, San Diego County employers added a net 200 jobs in September. There were 4,100 teachers and auxiliary school staff rehired in September as the school year started, while the tourism industry cut 5,400 jobs as the summer season ended.

Economists are more likely to look at year-over-year payroll growth when examining the job market. Over the past 12 months, San Diego County employers have added 28,000 jobs. It’s a slowdown from last month’s jobless report, which saw 30,300 jobs added from August to August. The year-over-year number peaked in June, when the country added 35,100 jobs in the preceding 12 months. That was the most added in a year since the period that ended December 2000.

“The slowdown in job growth during the past two months is disturbing,” Reaser said. “Uncertainty about the election may have caused many firms to put job plans on hold.”

Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego, said the declining year-over-year trend doesn’t concern him because 28,000 is still strong.

“That’s not a problem because we’ve just got in my view four good months in a row of year-over-year job growth above 25,000,” Gin said.

Steve Symons, of La Mesa, a former construction manager, has been looking for work since July 2011. He said the San Diego County unemployment rate is irrelevant to him.

“I’ve got a lot of friends in the industry. Some have work, some don’t,” he said. “If the unemployment rate is going down, why are my friends getting laid off?”

Fern Kissel, a paralegal who is unemployed after recently completing a temp job, said she doesn’t consider a lower unemployment rate a sign of good things to come.

“I don’t think it’s a representation of what’s going on out there,” said Kissel, of Oceanside. “I can’t even tell you how many resumes I have out anymore. It’s gotten into the hundreds.”

California’s unemployment rate — which is adjusted for seasonality — fell in September to 10.2 percent, from 10.6 percent in August.

The state added 8,500 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, showing the state’s economy was continuing its gradual improvement.

The rate in September was more than a full percentage point better than the 11.7 percent unemployment rate at the same time a year ago.